Dazn launches its first global virtual production hub in Madrid

The sports streaming service invests in next-generation remote technology to improve its global broadcast infrastructure. The facilities will allow us to expand production worldwide and improve the adaptation of content to each market.

Dazn, the global live and on-demand sports streaming service, has just presented its new state-of-the-art virtual production center, which strengthens its global distribution and production infrastructure.

These facilities, which operate under a NEP new generation production platform, allow remote access to a wide variety of audiovisual production functionalities, such as real-time access, editing, live commentary and narration, or graphic design. All these resources will be hosted in a virtual environment, accessible from anywhere in the world.

The first center of these characteristics opens in Madrid with 12 virtual production booths and will allow Dazn to produce and adapt content from the top-level competitions for which it owns the sports rights in Spain, including MotoGP, Premier League and Euroleague. Dazn's Leeds broadcast center, which opened earlier this year, will be next to connect to the virtual production environment. This technology will later be extended to new Dazn offices, allowing teams to access this virtual production system from anywhere with an Internet connection.

Neil Colligan, director of operations at Dazn, comments that for the group "digital innovation is key to everything we do. The ability to operate in agile and scalable virtual environments means that we can localize content and distribute it faster to different markets. It also allows us to share resources, and be flexible when adapting to different programming needs."

“Starting up physical production facilities in a new market can take up to nine months, but with this technology we can have remote production offices operational at a speed that adapts to our pace of growth,” he adds.

This virtual production center reinforces Dazn's commitment to investment in technology after the opening of a development center in Amsterdam last summer. Dazn launched in 2016 and is currently available in nine markets across four continents, including the US, Germany, Spain, Italy, Brazil and Japan. The company has more than 2,600 employees in 24 countries.